๐ช๐ฌ Egyptian security forces have arrested and forcibly disappeared six journalists from the fact-checking platform Matsda2sh, Mada Masr reports.
The arrests began Monday night with home raids on editors Mohamed Ashraf Abu Emaira and Abdallah Qadry, followed Tuesday by Islam Barakat, Omar Helal, Mohamed Adel and Mohamed Mohamed Mahmoud. Their whereabouts remain unknown, and none have been allowed to contact family or lawyers.
Authorities have given no reason for the arrests. Lawyer Nasser Amin said the journalists are likely to face counterterrorism charges, including spreading false news, and called the crackdown "a message of deterrence." It came as President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi met officials Tuesday and urged a firm stance against "chaosโ and against efforts to cast doubt on state achievements.
"I believe this is the first time in the two-century history of Egyptian journalism that an entire newsroom, with all its journalists, has been arrested," said Hossam Bahgat of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.
Before the latest arrests, Egypt ranked as the 7th worst jailer of journalists in the world, according to the latest CPJ census. The arrests bring the number of Egyptian journalists held over their work to 26, according to EIPR.